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Fans Crank up Bumbershoot with Pedal-Power

Music fans are in for a treat at Bumbershoot — though, they’ll have to work for it with a little bit of sweat as they seesaw and pedal for snow cones this weekend.

At the Prius Playground music fans literally become the energy source for a micro-utility — powering an Energy Well by pedaling seven stationary bikes and see-sawing up and down. For five minutes of work, fans get a sweet reward — a free snow cone that was made possible through their own power.

The Energy Well uses the energy produced by the bikes and see-saw to power the Prius Playground, including the snow cone machine. This type of micro energy storage, which is similar to the battery in a Prius, may someday be used to generate and store power in homes.

The Prius Playground is making its way to some of the country’s largest music festivals including Lollapalooza, Mile High, Outside Lands, Bumbershoot and Voodoo Fest.

In addition, participants can actually watch how pedal-power adds up on a display that shows the real time energy production and consumption at the playground.

“The goal of the Prius Playground is to show people in a fun and engaging way that there are other possibilities for energy production and storage,” said Eric Ritz, founder of Global Inheritance. “Partnering with Prius is a perfect fit for Global Inheritance as Toyota is at the forefront of innovations looking at creative ways to consume less and live more sustainably.”

The Prius Playground is a partnership between non-profit Global Inheritance and Toyota with the goal of showcasing energy innovations in fun and educational ways in order to inspire people to make small changes that can have big impact in the world.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.